This disclosure generally relates to artificial fishing lures. More specifically, this disclosure relates to a soft, elastomeric head cover for a jig fishing lure or combination jig and rotating member fishing lure.
A jig fishing lure (also referred to as a “jig”) is a common type of fishing lure and is typically constructed by partially embedding a hook shank into a metal weight. This metal weight is also known as the jig head, and it is usually made from a dense metal such as lead, steel, brass, or tungsten. The jig hook is comprised of a hook eyelet, a hook shank, a hook barb, and a hook point. A jig barb or wire mount is commonly used to help retain a soft elastomeric lure body that is either slid forward along the hook shank and onto the jig barb or is attached to the wire mount which protrudes from the jig head. The jig can also be made “weedless” by the addition of a hook guard feature, which can protrude from the jig head of the jig fishing lure and protect the hook point. The fishing line knot connects one end of the fishing line to the hook eyelet. The other end of the fishing line is attached to a rod and reel, which the angler uses to cast, flip, or pitch the jig fishing lure into a body of water. After the heavy jig head causes the jig to sink to the bottom or to a depth chosen by the angler, the angler then uses the rod to intermittently lift and twitch the lure while reeling in any slack fishing line in hopes of attracting a fish.
A combination jig and rotating member fishing lure contains some or all of the same elements as the aforementioned jig fishing lure, but with the addition of at least one spinning element or vaned element. Examples of fishing lures that fall into this category are spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, propeller baits, and the like. A combination jig and rotating member fishing lure is typically retrieved at a much faster speed than a jig fishing lure, because the retrieve speed must be fast enough to cause rotation of the spinner, vane, blade, or propeller in order for the lure to emit the desired sound and/or vibration.
The preferred embodiments of this disclosure have several advantages over related art. One drawback of common jig fishing lures is that while the body of the jig is typically created by sliding a soft elastomeric body along the hook shank and onto the jig barb, the head of the jig remains exposed as a hard metal surface, and this hard metal surface does not have the same feeling as a fish's natural prey. A variation of the soft body described above is an elastomeric tube-shaped sleeve body that surrounds both the jig head and hook shank and sometimes also extends beyond the bend of the hook. In either case, however, an advantage of this disclosure is that a separate head cover can provide an angler with the ability to interchange a soft body and a head cover independently of each other in order to achieve a more desired lure appearance.
Lures with entirely interchangeable heads exist wherein the various heads are meant to change the action or movement of the lure in the water. However, if such a removable lure head is not attached, then the desired action or movement of the lure can be lost. As a result, there exists the need for the jig head of a jig fishing lure to remain attached for proper lure action and for the jig head also to be covered with a soft membrane in order to make it feel more lifelike to a fish.
Research has shown that due to their extreme sensitivity to touch and pressure, some fish can distinguish between a hard object and a soft object in a fraction of a second, and that the average retention times for soft lures are far greater than the average retention times for hard lures. Additionally, when water temperatures drop during the winter season, an angler retrieves a fishing lure more slowly in order to tempt a less-aggressive fish. During these months, a softer feeling head cover becomes even more advantageous, because sluggish and lethargic fish often take longer to feel and evaluate the hardness and texture of a lure. Thus, just as the body of the jig is made soft by adding a soft trailer, there is a need to make the head of the jig also soft by adding a soft head cover. The greater the amount of the lure surface area that is soft, the more lifelike the overall tactile experience will be to a fish. This will increase the fish's retention time of the lure and increase the angler's time window for hooking the fish.